INFLUENCE OF CLASSROOM ADMINISTRATION ON THE CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

INFLUENCE OF CLASSROOM ADMINISTRATION ON THE CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Chemistry is one of the science subjects that senior secondary school students offer at the senior levels in the Nigerian secondary schools, (FRN, 2004). Chemistry is a very important science subject and a requirement for further learning of a number of science-related professional courses like medicine, agriculture, pharmacy, and laboratory etc. In contemporary Nigeria, greater emphasis is placed on science and technological development. As a result, students

are being encouraged to take up science-related subjects. Today, Chemistry pervades literally every field of human endeavour, and plays a fundamental role in educational advancement. This is seen in all the technological advancement in the world today, which is because of scientific investigations. However, the issue remains that in most secondary schools in Nigeria, there is high rate of failure in the subject. Slavin, R. and Lake, C. (2008).

Classroom management in the 21st century has changed immensely along with our society. Corporal punishment and yelling are classroom management approaches of the past. Today’s teachers need to be professional and caring. The rituals and routines of the classroom need to be set and should include student input. Teachers need to have a plethora of interventions at their fingertips. There is also a need for positive teacher-student relationships (Marzano and Freiberg, 2003).

Classroom management has been highlighted across numerous research studies as a major variable that affects students’ academic performance (Marzono, 2003). The most obvious reason for this assertion is that, effective classroom management sets the stage for teaching and learning. It sets a tone in the classroom that captures students’ attention – as a necessity for effective teaching and learning (Marzono, 2003). This statement is obvious since a classroom which is chaotic and disorganized as a result of poor classroom management is highly unlikely to enhance expansive learning and students’ academic performance and might,

indeed, inhibit it. In chaos, according to Idopise (2004), very little academic learning can take place. According to Walter (2006), classroom management differs from one teacher to another because of the teacher’s personality, teaching style, preparedness, and number of students in the classroom.

According to Umoren (2010), the concept of classroom management is broader than the notion of student control and discipline, it includes all the things teachers must do in the classroom to foster students’ academic involvement and cooperation in classroom activities to create conducive learning environment. Morse (2012), relates that classroom management involves curtailing learner’s disruptive behaviors such as fighting and noise making, close observation, arrangement of classroom learning materials, and response to students who

When classroom management is viewed in a more wider and holistic sense, incorporating every element of the classroom from lesson delivery to classroom environment becomes important (Nicholas, 2007). According to Nicholas (2007), this includes creating organized and orderly classroom, establishing expectations, inducing students’ cooperation in learning tasks, and dealing with the procedural demands of the classroom. This view of classroom management contrasts to a more narrow view of classroom management as it deals with just discipline and control. According to Bassey (2012), the wider view of classroom management

The reason for this is that the books that are used in teacher training programs (e.g., Jones & Jones, 2012; Klamer-Hoogma, 2012; Teitler & Van Brussel, 2012) generally refer to studies that were conducted decades ago or used anecdotal evidence rather than empirical evidence.

However, daily practice in education has changed rapidly. It is increasingly characterized by student-centred approaches to learning (as opposed to teacher-centred), with a large emphasis on students’ metacognitive skills (e.g., self-regulated learning discipline; Dignath, Büttner, & Langfeldt, 2008) and cooperative learning (e.g., Kagan, 2005; Wubbels, Den Brok, Veldman, & Van Tart, 2006). Moreover, more and more technology is finding its way into classrooms, for example, the use of interactive whiteboards, tablets, and laptops (Schussler, Poole, Whitlock, & Evertson, 2007). These changes presumably have had a large impact on the demands placed on teachers’ classroom management skills (e.g., rules and procedures to facilitate cooperative learning). Although, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted to explicitly compare the effectiveness of particular CMD in more traditional versus more modern classrooms, an up-to-date overview of studies conducted in the last decade is expected to provide insight into which CMD have been proven (still) to be effective in modern classrooms.

Traditionally, teachers are encouraged to believe that the learning environment must be orderly and quiet. For some principals, a quiet classroom means effective teaching. With the growing movement toward cooperative learning, However, more teachers are using activities in which students take an active role. Sharing ideas and information with various activities occurring at the same time can make for noisy classrooms. But it would be a mistake to conclude that in such classrooms students are not learning (Carr et al. 1998). The classroom management and mastering order inside the classroom are the most important factors in educational process and basic requirements.

They are considered the basic problems which face the teacher since teachers complain about mastering the order inside the classroom, and it consumes much effort and time, and they are considered as sensitive, important and critical factors for the teacher’s success or failure in his tasks. The concept “classroom order” point to the learners behavior discipline according to the followed systems and rules which facilitate the process of classroom interaction towards achieving the planned goals (Marei and Mustafa 2009). Glavin (2002) states that the behavioral problems may appear as a result of: inappropriate skills which students learn, choosing inappropriate time for learning, and the restricted learning opportunities offered to students. Teachers do not generally want to give control to their students. They are instructed that the mark of a good teacher is the teacher who controls the class (Taylor 2008). The amount of control that teachers have in the class is often seen by the administration as a measurement of the quality of a teacher. Administrators are usually happy if a teacher never sends a student to the office and interpret this as proof that the teacher is in control and must be doing a good job ( Edwards 1994). The school behavioral problems considered the most dangerous ones, which face the components of the educational process (teachers, principals, parents, and supervisors) .The disorder, theft, properties vandalism, violence against teachers and student, are the matters that may threaten the educational process (Owidat and Hamdi 1997). Students that practice disruptive behavior cause disciplinary problems in the classroom and have negative efforts on student, it may also lead to low achievement. There are many academic and behavioral problems regarding students that face teacher in the classroom and has a direct impact on the teaching – learning process such as: forgetting school tools, frequent absence, lack of attention, hyperactivity, inappropriate talk in the classroom vandalism, disobedience, aggressiveness, re-fused to do tasks and school works. There is no instruction without any problems, as long the classroom has different achievement factors, and different personality. The reasons of academic and behavioral problems could be classified as follows (Al-Alga 2006).

This classroom management and discipline deals with how things are done. Its structure, procedure and routines to the point of becoming rituals
When procedure are explained to and practiced by students it is periodically reinforced by practicing, classroom management and control.
When procedures are learned, practiced and reinforced, instructions becomes efficient. This is the foundation of any classroom management and is a prime responsibility of the teacher.

Classroom management discipline is the responsibility of the student discipline has to do with appropriate behavior. To make classroom conducive for learning, the school is not to be focused on a view but rather being together contrasting opinion and attitudes so that the teacher can be given the way of which it is to be based on his conclusion. When teacher takes up the role of discipline students, they deprive young people of the opportunity of becoming more responsible. A far more responsible. A far more effective approach is for students to develop procedures to help redirect irresponsible impulse. In addition, the usual approach is for adult to impose some of the punishment when this occurs, students have no ownership in the decision to a victim hood mentality and have negative feeling towards the imposers.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Classroom and management contributes to the building of discipline in a school and a pupil are students who lack discipline allowed to misbehaves is there any significant different between students who come late to school and those who come to school early. Are there any significant differences between the controls of groups that work cooperatively.

Un‐conducive learning environment in the public schools has posed serious problems to students’ academic performance over many decades ago. This trend has been on the increase on daily basis. Its prevalence has attracted the concern of the teachers, parents, the guidance counselors and many researchers. Effective classroom management has been discussed extensively at educational seminars and workshops, with efforts aimed at bringing lasting solution to the problem of students’ poor academic performance encountered in secondary schools.

In most cases, classroom teachers become tired of using verbal instruction in attempts to establish effective classroom management, but this method alone does not produce desired results. Many teachers use corporal punishment to instill fear and discipline in the classroom yet there are prevalence of disruptive behaviors in the classroom. A lot of teachers waste time and energy in intensive classroom supervision so that the classroom climate could be conducive for lessons. Some classroom teachers delegates authority to deserving prefects such as time – keeper, noise prefects, class prefects, etc. to share in the responsibility of ensuring a conducive learning atmosphere in the classroom.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to examine influence of classroom adminstration on the classroom discipline and academic performance of chemistry students among senior secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The objective of the study includes:

(i) To access the use of verbal instruction and how it could enhance students’ academic performance.

(ii) To examine the use of corporal punishment on the learners and its effects on

students’ academic performance.

(iii) To determine how the use of instructional supervision could affect students’

academic performance.

(iv) To evaluate how delegation of authority to learners could affect students’ academic performance.

(v) Find out the level of time management among academic performance of students in secondary schools.

(vi) Determine the relationship between teachers and academic performance of secondary schools students.

RESEARCH QUESTION

The following research question will guide the study.

What is the level of time management among academic performance of students in secondary schools?

What is the relationship between teacher and academic performance of secondary school students in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State?

How does verbal instruction affect students’ academic performance?

How does corporal punishment affect students’ academic performance?

In what ways does the use of instructional supervision affect students’ academic performance in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State?

How does delegation of authority to learners affect students’ academic performance?

This study will be significant as it will yield data that will help a number of individuals and educational stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, researchers and PTA members to ascertain the extent to which effective classroom management affects students’ academic performance in secondary schools.

The findings provided in this study will help teachers in accessing the effects of their classroom management on student’s academic performance in the school. Likewise, Ministry of Education and the curriculum planners will use the results of this study to guide them in imbibing classroom management skills in teachers so as to improve students’ academic performance. The study is equally significant to PTA members in that they will understand how disruptive behavior can hamper students’ academic performance. It will create awareness among teachers and parent on the need to always establish a conducive learning environment for improved academic performance among children.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is delimited to effect of classroom management on the classroom discipline and academic performance of chemistry students in senior secondary school in Ikere Local government Area.

The study will be restricted to Senior Secondary schools students, both male and female students. They were chosen because it is expected that they have spent three to four years in the school and they have acquired the experience of both positive and negative, and how it can affect their performance.

Organization of the Study

This thesis was organized into five sections. The first section holds the introductory part of the study which consists of background of the research, statement of the problem, significance, delimitation and limitation of the study. The second section deals with review of literature pertinent to the research. The third section discusses about research methodology. The collected data from the subject of the study was carefully analyzed and interpreted under the fourth section. The fifth section presents the research’s summary, conclusions drawn and recommendations made on the basis of findings of the study. Reference and appendix including questionnaire, interview format, focus group discussion and other related materials were part of the document.

Definition of Terms

Classroom management: is the actions teachers take to create a supportive environment for the academic and social emotional learning of students.

Classroom environment: is the setting in which student learning takes place. It concerns the classroom’s physical environment, the social system, the atmosphere, and norms and values.

Academic Performance: refers to the outcome for students in their education.

Classroom: refers to a room in a school or college where groups of students are taught,

Secondary school is an educational level that constitutes grades 9-10 above.

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